Death penalty opponent to speak

Vicki Schieber, an opponent of the death penalty, will speak at Lycoming College on Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in the Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall. The free, public event is sponsored by Lycoming's United Campus Ministry and Criminal Justice Department, the United Churches of Lycoming County and Pax Christi of Northeast Pennsylvania.

In 1998, Schieber's daughter, Shannon, was raped and murdered while attending graduate school on a full scholarship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Despite their tragic loss and strongly motivated by Christian moral principles, Schieber and her husband, Sylvester, have dedicated their lives to seeking an abolition of the death penalty.

Schieber is chair of the national organization Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights and has published pieces in the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and the "Washington Post." She has testified before the United States Senate, as well as other legislative arenas, and speaks regularly to church and student organizations. In 2008, she served as a member of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment. The Schieber family story has been included in an NBC film on the death penalty.

Lycoming College is a national liberal arts and sciences school dedicated to the undergraduate education of 1,400 students. It is recognized as a Tier 1 institution by U.S. News and World Report. Founded in 1812 in Williamsport, Pa., Lycoming is one of the 50 oldest colleges in the nation.